The goal is to support and increase the number of student entrepreneurs.

Under the new program, teams that placed in one of the 17 events in either the 2014-15 or 2015-16 academic years to apply for the statewide competition. Four prizes, valued at $12,500, will be awarded in these categories:

Commercializable Technology – A company with a product or business concept surrounding a technology that was licensed or is under option to license out of a research institute from across the state.

Lifestyle Business – A company that is not immediately focused on creating a high growth business but one that could be a staple within the community.

Social Enterprise – A company that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being—this may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for external shareholders.

Tech Enabled – A company that enables more efficiency within a process or industry. This would exclude technology that was licensed from a research institute. ($12,500)

Seven of the 17 eligible programs are in the primary targeted area for Teknovation.biz. They are:

Three programs offered by the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Knoxville campus – the twice-a-year editions of “Vol Court” as well as the “Boyd Venture Challenge” and “Undergraduate Business Plan” competitions;

The “Tennessee Venture Challenge” offered by the UT Research Foundation;